(MONEY Magazine) – One thing about living among geysers, extinct volcanoes and climax forests: it sure encourages a long view of things. So when Dick Divine, 35, is asked about the fires that affected about 45% of Yellowstone National Park's 3,472 square miles last summer, he offers a philosophical response. ''The sad thing is that there will probably be a lot of black trees here in our lifetime,'' he says. ''But there were already green sprouts coming up by the end of the summer. In the long run, the park will be better off for what has happened.'' Such long-term thinking -- which holds with the National Park Service position that fire can be a natural part of the forest life cycle -- is typical of Dick and his wife Mona, 34. Both rangers in Yellowstone, they have at least 20 years to go before retirement. But already they're thinking about life once they leave the Park Service. Specifically, they wonder whether their sizable $176,933 savings, built up through years of cautious investing, is deployed optimally among stock, bond and money-market mutual funds to meet their principal goal: building wealth for retirement (they have no plans to have children). They are also puzzled about whether they should buy a house now for investment purposes -- Yellowstone rangers who work in the park's interior must live in government-owned rental quarters in the park section to which they are assigned -- or wait until they leave the service to buy a property they would live in. If they hold out, they worry that their savings may not be sufficient to swing a simple but comfortable retirement dwelling, perhaps in Montana. Like many of Yellowstone's 49 year-round rangers (the force swells to nearly 300 during the summer travel season), the Divines lead a financial life that is largely dictated by their remote location and partly influenced by the fact that they live apart for most of the year. Mona, as supervisor of as many as 55 rangers in the 356,000-acre Lake Sub-District (so named because it includes much of the 136-square-mile Yellowstone Lake), lives in a comfortable three- room, 750-square-foot apartment attached to the subdistrict ranger station. Her quarters are filled with such conveniences as a microwave oven, a 13-inch color TV, a VCR and a home computer. The lone visible concession to the wilderness is a wood stove. It's especially useful for keeping the occupants warm in subzero weather when winter squalls cause prolonged power outages, which they do about half a dozen times a season. Outside is a 10-foot satellite dish antenna installed for $1,100 to help bring in distant radio and TV signals. The apartment's $261-a-month rent sounds like a bargain until you consider that the nearest year-round post office, at park headquarters at Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyo., is more than 50 miles distant and the closest big town, Bozeman, Mont. (pop. 25,000), is about 90 miles farther. In winter, mail comes in just twice a week; newspapers arrive days old.

Dick, an assistant sub-district ranger in the 200,000-acre Canyon section, spends most of the year 18 miles away in a tiny $130-a-month efficiency near the section's ranger outpost. From March until December, he and Mona get together only about twice a week, on days off. But in winter, when the number of park visitors dwindles, Dick moves in with Mona and their cats, Oreo and Klister. Many couples would find the separation more than a little inconvenient, but ^ the Divines aren't complaining: the 18 miles are the closest the couple have lived on a regular basis since shortly after their marriage eight years ago in an outdoor ceremony at the park. ''Lots of Park Service couples have to live much farther apart than we do,'' says Mona, a quiet, efficient professional who gives the impression, despite her trim five-foot, seven-inch build, of being the kind of person you'd like to have at your side if a grizzly dropped by. Observes Dick, who's lean, hardy and jovial: ''Either one of us would quit the Park Service if the marriage was really going to suffer. But right now things seem to be going fairly well.'' Whatever one's view is of their unusual commuter marriage -- and, by the way, in winter the travel is usually on the Yamaha XL-V snowmobile they bought three years ago for $3,200 -- at least it encourages frugality and saving. They usually put away around 45% of their roughly equal civil service salaries, which total about $47,000 a year. That compares with 15% for the average childless couple in their thirties. About $46,000 of their nest egg is tied up in tax-deferred retirement savings accounts, including $4,510 in government savings plans and $41,417 in Individual Retirement Accounts. Of the latter sum, slightly more than half is invested in the Fidelity Government Securities Fund; the remainder is in two no-load stock funds, Twentieth Century Select and Twentieth Century Growth, and a certificate of deposit worth about $4,400. Of their $118,000 or so in nonretirement assets, which they can dip into without early-withdrawal penalties at any time, $40,667 is split among five stock and bond mutual funds; $5,545 is in an AAA-rated municipal bond that pays 9.4%; $2,310 is in Series EE U.S. Savings Bonds yielding 7.4%; and a modest $790 is in individual stocks. By far the biggest chunk of their money, however, rests in two money-market funds, Fidelity Cash Reserves and Fidelity Daily Income Trust, both recently paying about 8.7%. That $69,000 cash store makes up 58% of their no-strings-attached wealth. They have no debt. In fact, they are creditors. Among their assets is an $11,750 car loan they made a couple of years ago at 8 1/2% to Dick's sister. She repays them at $267 a month. They own no life insurance, having declined to participate in a plan for federal employees, though they do take part in a government major-medical plan that costs them $847 a year. The couple's portfolio -- 80% income-oriented, 11% directed toward a mixture ( of growth and income and only 9% pure growth -- reflects their cautious bent, especially Mona's. ''She's so bearish, she practically growls,'' says Dick. But it's not pessimism alone that accounts for the couple's low-idle investment mix. Since there's no bank in Yellowstone, the government automatically deposits Dick and Mona's biweekly paychecks in their Fidelity money-market funds, from which they can write checks to pay their major bills. The couple rarely need cash in the park. But when they do, they often cash checks at hotels or concessions. ''With direct deposit,'' says Mona, ''the cash just starts to add up if we don't manage it -- and we're often too busy to do it.'' Indeed, the ranger life in general -- and perhaps in particular at expansive Yellowstone, the largest national park in the Lower 48 states -- is hardly the low-stress idyll that an urban greenhorn might imagine. Says Mona: ''I think most rangers are Type-A personalities. They like the action, and they like to help people.'' At Yellowstone, with more than 2 million visitors a year, the rangers get plenty of chances. They may respond to more than 800 medical emergencies annually and make more than 150 arrests, most for driving offenses. Mona is on the park's wildlife immobilization team. As such, she's trained to capture and relocate bears or other wildlife that wander into heavily touristed areas. Last year she participated in about six such operations. And both of the Divines are frequently called on to rescue lost hikers and campers. In one memorable experience two years ago, Mona was part of a team of rangers sent to search for a photographer who had disappeared. ''He had told his friends that he'd gotten a picture of everything but a grizzly bear,'' Mona recalls. When she and another ranger found him about a quarter of a mile from a main road, he had been mauled to death by a hostile subject. The Divines' ties to Yellowstone stretch back to their college days, when they both had summer jobs in the park. Mona, the daughter of an often transferred Navy chief petty officer and a homemaker, worked as a waitress at the Old Faithful Inn for two seasons while working toward her degree in physical education at San Diego State University. Dick, who had wanted to be a park ranger since his adolescence in El Dorado, Kans., worked as a summer fire-control aide while studying wildlife management at California's Humboldt State University. He had gotten the bug for the outdoors from his father, an oil refinery worker who often took him hunting as a boy. His mother owned a greeting-card shop. After college, both decided to seek careers in Yellowstone. Mona got one of the highly coveted permanent ranger positions first, in 1978; Dick, two years later. They met in the park the year Mona got permanent status. Both are now ranked GS-9 within the federal pay scale, and their earnings place them among the highest-paid field rangers in the Park Service. But their rise up the career ladder is now likely to slow. Since Yellowstone is a plum outpost, turnover in the four district ranger positions -- the next step up for Mona -- is slight. And taking one of those posts would cause another problem for the Divines. The government's anti-nepotism regulations prohibit one spouse from supervising another. So depending on the district in which the opening occurred, Mona would either have to move farther away from Dick or decline the promotion, or Dick would have to transfer out of her district. He might be able to move up more readily, but accepting a promotion could mean a move that would take him farther away from Mona. Of course, one of the Divines could quit his or her job, but that would cut the couple's annual income in half unless another job, perhaps in the park's maintenance department, could be found. But neither Dick nor Mona much like the prospect of giving up their work as rangers. ''This is where our experience and interests lie,'' says Mona. And as for the idea of leaving Yellowstone, perhaps for another park where the living arrangements might be easier, Mona says: ''Yellowstone is kind of like home. We met here, we've developed a lot of close friendships here, and we really don't have any desire to go someplace else if we can help it.'' So for the foreseeable future they'll maintain their singular status at Yellowstone, complete with the inconveniences that would make their posts unacceptable to less rugged individuals. When they need to leave the park in winter, for instance, they travel 50 miles by snowmobile to park headquarters. There they transfer to their 1987 four-wheel-drive Toyota 4-Runner for the 90- mile run to Bozeman. In good weather, the trip takes about three hours each way. No wonder, then, that they do their winter's grocery shopping in one supermarket sweep in early November. ''We go through the store and just start throwing things into the cart,'' says Mona. Their haul last fall included 80 pounds of flour, 50 pounds of potatoes, two cases of powdered milk, several cases of dried pasta, 25 pounds of frozen vegetables, 24 pounds of margarine and 30 rolls of toilet paper. The tab: about $600. ''The supermarket checkers know us,'' says Mona drily. The health-conscious rangers rarely eat meat, but when they do their taste runs to domestically grown bison, which they purchase in 165-pound or so quarters from a summer ranger. The meat costs the Divines only about $2.25 a pound, and it offers another advantage too. ''It has less fat than beef,'' Mona explains. What's more, the meat is a favorite main course at the frequent potluck dinners held by rangers, maintenance workers and their families throughout the year. The get-togethers serve as an antidote to isolation in the Lake Sub-District, whose summertime population of more than 20,000 visitors and employees shrinks to just 16 when the hotel, cabins and campgrounds shut down in winter. ''We're actually less isolated than some people who live in big cities,'' observes Mona. ''Living here, you get to know your neighbors very well.'' And, of course, in the infernal summer of 1988 the Divines got to know their co-workers better than ever. Mona worked 12-hour days supervising fire retardation efforts in her sub-district, while Dick worked protecting backcountry cabins against damage by clearing undergrowth and covering roofs with flame-retardant materials. The fires did bring one unexpected advantage: the couple earned an unprecedented $12,934 in overtime, deposited with their regular pay in their money-market funds. Like many who worked in the park last summer, Mona feels some early news coverage of the fires was unfair. ''When you're working your absolute hardest to put out fires and everybody says you're not trying, it's extremely frustrating,'' she says. And while she regrets the extent of the fires, she doesn't worry too much about burn areas. ''Lodgepole pine cones explode when heated, so the trees reseed best in a fire situation,'' she says. ''That's nature's way of taking care of things.''

BOX: Bottom Line Though their schedules don't allow many trips out of the park, the couple did spend $1,200 last year on a two-week camping and biking trip to Canyonlands National Park in Utah and Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico. Their medical expenses include $1,000 spent on dental braces for Mona.

INCOME

Mona's salary $24,435 Dick's salary 22,907 Mona's overtime 8,658 Interest and dividends 7,320 Dick's overtime 4,276

Total $67,596

OUTGO Savings $30,728 1987 taxes 8,791 Retirement contributions 8,302 Rent 4,692 Food 3,500 Investments 2,262 Recreation, entertainment 2,200 Insurance 1,377 Medical expenses 1,250 Vacation 1,200 Miscellaneous 625 Clothes 600 Gifts 600 Car expenses 400 Contributions 400 Furniture, appliances 400 Telephone 269

Total $67,596

ASSETS

Money-market funds $69,000 Investments 49,312 IRAs 45,927 Pension contributions 12,694 1987 Toyota 4-Runner 11,800 Debts receivable 11,750 Personal property 11,500 Government savings plans 4,510 1985 Yamaha snowmobile 1,700 Checking account 400

Total $218,593

LIABILITIES 0

NET WORTH $218,593

BOX: The Advice No time for the Divines to hibernate

-- THE PROBLEMS Maximizing assets for retirement, ensuring sufficient wealth to buy a house and shoring up their insurance

-- THE SOLUTIONS 1. Invest for growth. 2. Buy rental real estate. 3. Get more liability coverage.

MONEY invited certified financial planner Mark A. Richey of Lakewood, Colo. and real estate agent Tom Taylor of ERA Landmark in Bozeman, Mont. to meet with the Divines at Yellowstone. Among the recommendations: Investments. The Divines' substantial money-market stash ensures security of principal but yields too little. The couple should aim for a portfolio -- including their tax-sheltered retirement holdings -- consisting of 50% income investments, 30% moderate growth investments and 20% more aggressive growth. One relatively painless strategy would be to continue having their paychecks deposited into their Fidelity money-market funds and direct Fidelity & to transfer a specific amount each month, say $500 to $1,000, to one or more of the company's growth mutual funds. One with an excellent long-term record is Fidelity Magellan (3% load; up 22.8% in 1988; 800-544-6666). The couple should also seek to shelter more of their investment income -- about $7,300 was taxable last year at their 28% rate -- by buying more tax-free municipal bonds or shares in muni bond funds such as Fidelity High Yield Municipals (no load; up 12.2% in 1988). Plenty of other mutual fund companies also sell municipal bond funds, though the Divines might find it more convenient for record keeping to hold the bulk of their accounts with one fund family. Real estate. To avoid the wallop of a first-time home purchase at retirement in 20 years or so, the couple might consider buying a house now in Bozeman, Mont. and renting it out. To ease the landlording hassles, they should hire a management firm for 5% to 10% of the monthly rent. A 2,100-square-foot, four- bedroom house near Montana State University might cost them $69,500. If the Divines make a 38% down payment and take a 30-year mortgage at 10.6%, annual payments would come to $4,746. Taxes, insurance and other expenses might cost another $1,892 a year, bringing the total outgo to $6,638. If the couple could lease the house at going rates of about $550 a month, rental income would take care of all but $38 of those costs, and tax savings in the first year could amount to about $446, after writing off operating expenses, interest payments and depreciation. The investment involves risk, though. While the Bozeman market stabilized last year, with prices basically level, houses near the university have dropped about 10% in price since the start of the decade. Insurance. The Divines' insurance is generally adequate. But the couple should purchase a tenants liability policy for their apartments. Cost for $100,000 of coverage: around $60 a year. Should a visitor be injured there, the Divines, and not the government, might be the target of a lawsuit. They should also buy an umbrella liability policy of at least $1 million that kicks in where other coverage leaves off. Such a policy might cost $90 a year.

A few weeks after the meeting, the Divines were deep into planning changes in their portfolio. ''Mark's advice provided the impetus for us to get out of cash,'' Mona reported. ''We'll probably go more heavily into growth investments.'' The couple were also looking into the recommended insurance. But for now the Divines are undecided on whether to buy a rental house in Bozeman.